Awesome Fall Cheese platter

My lovely, sweet guests have gone home after a whirlwind Thanksgiving holiday weekend. After being surrounded by people that I love, the house seems a little too quiet. During the holiday, the weather cooperated by being cool, sunny and clear. The days were full of bright autumn color. Perfect. Now that all the hub-bub has settled, this morning is grey, overcast and we are expecting a dusting of snow. I’m left to reflect in our now still home and to peruse our photos taken over the company stay.

The big event went very well, but I barely got our cheese platter together before friends and family started arriving. Whew! And then The Big Dinner! How do people keep it all cooked and hot at the same time? It’s a talent that I have yet to perfect. It did turn out as it inevitably does. But only in part, due to Les’ help and calming effect and in part, due to my lovely company.

This was the first time that I actually made a cheese platter. It was so easy and pretty that I want to share it with you. It all started with a Kirkland cheese sampler from Costco. I have to say that the little blocks of cheese were delicious. One of them was a cheese made with white truffles which I never thought that I would try. I figured that I don’t like anything-mushroom so truffles just sound like they would taste like dirt – the same as mushrooms. Really though, the cheese was OK. I don’t need to eat anything with truffles ever again (unless chocolate) but everyone else liked it. It disappeared, so that must be the proof. 😅😅😅

I also used my computer to print out free chalkboard labels. A white chalk pen was used to print the different kinds of cheese information. I cut the labels apart and stuck them onto toothpicks for cheese identification. Kind of cute, huh?

To assemble the display, I cut a few slices from some of the cheese wedges and I cubed others for variety. I placed them around the edges of the cutting board. In the center I put two little ceramic bowels for extra color. One was filled with spicy cocktail mix of roasted red peppers, green olives, little pickles and onions. The other was filled with cranberry chutney.

Last came the fruit. I used purple, seedless Thomcord grapes from California- they were deliciously sweet and flavorful. The board was rounded out with dried apricots and mixed, candied nuts. I would have gone for figs and other fruits, but I was trying to keep the cost down. And there you have it, the easiest cheese board ever.